By:  | November 18, 2023 9:34 am

The inaugural ONE Championship heavyweight Muay Thai title will be up for grabs on December 9th. Roman Kryklia and Alex Roberts will go head to head at Lumpinee Stadium with the belt on the line.

The title fight looks set to headline ONE Fight Night 17. Kryklia won the heavyweight kickboxing Grand Prix last year and also holds the light heavyweight kickboxing title.

The Ukrainian has won five fights out of five for ONE Championship with four of those wins coming inside the distance. Roberts will be making his promotional debut but is the reigning WBC heavyweight Muay Thai champion.

Malaysian teenager

As previously announced Johan Ghazali will make his official ONE Championship debut next month. The Malaysian teenager has been booked to take on Edgar Tabares at Lumpinee Stadium on December 9th.

ONE Fight Night 17 is set for Lumpinee Stadium and it is a venue the 16 year old is already familiar with. He has won four fights out of four there this year to earn a spot fighting on one of the Amazon Prime cards.

At ONE Friday Fights 36 he finished Temirlan Bekmurzaev with a body show. Three of Ghazali’s four wins this year have come inside the distance and he has picked up three $10,000 USD bonuses.

Another postponement

ONE Fight Night 17 was set to be headlined by the eagerly anticipated featherweight Muay Thai title fight between Tawanchai PKSanchaigym and Superbon Banchamek. But that bout had to be postponed for the second time when the latter was hospitalized with a viral infection.

The promotion has reportedly rebooked this fight for ONE Friday Fights 46 on December 22nd although nothing is confirmed at the time of writing. That event will also feature an interim atomweight kickboxing title fight pitting Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom against Anissa Meksen.

Vietnamese star

Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat returns to the ONE Championship ring after a four year absence next month. The Vietnamese star has not competed for the promotion since 2019.

Nhat has been matched with Denis Purić at ONE Fight Night 17. The event is set for Lumpinee Stadium on December 9th and the Vietnamese star will be competing in a flyweight Muay Thai fight.

Nhat won two fights out of two for ONE Championship in 2019 with both victories coming inside the distance. While he hasn’t fought for them since then he has been busy collecting titles and winning tournaments.

In 2021 he won a gold medal at the SEA Games and last year Nhat won gold at the IFMA World Championships. He also began his MMA career in 2022, winning four fights out of four to win a Lion Championship tournament.

Six fights

There are six fights currently confirmed for ONE Fight Night 17 and five of them will be contested under Muay Thai rules. In the featherweight division Luke Lessei faces Jo Nattawut, the Thai gave a very good account of himself when he stepped up to face Tawanchai at short notice recently.

At bantamweight Felipe Lobo faces Saemapetch Fairtex. The other fight on the card is in the flyweight division and pits Walter Goncalves against Jacob Smith.

ONE Fight Night 17, Bangkok, December 9th
Muay Thai: Roman Kryklia vs. Alex Roberts (For heavyweight title)
Muay Thai: Luke Lessei vs. Jo Nattawut (Featherweight)
Muay Thai: Johan Ghazali vs. Edgar Tabares (Flyweight)
Muay Thai: Felipe Lobo vs. Saemapetch Fairtex (Bantamweight)
Muay Thai: Walter Goncalves vs. Jacob Smith (Flyweight)
Muay Thai: Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat vs. Denis Purić (Flyweight)